Stocks Mixed, But Dow Gains

NEW YORK -- Wall Street turned in a mixed performance Tuesday as investors, still stung by the recent sharp drop in stock prices, continued to gravitate toward safer, blue-chip issues.

Trading volume, meanwhile, slumped for the second straight day, a development that market analysts said was a direct result of the upcoming ``triple witching hour,`` which occurs this Friday, when stock index futures, index options and individual stock options expire simultaneously. Trading has been highly volatile on past witching-hour Fridays.

With that concern lingering over the market, investors have become increasingly selective in their stock purchases. The result was a 10.96-point gain Tuesday in the blue-chip Dow average, to 1,778.54, at a time when other broader market indexes were in retreat.

Even the Dow`s relatively strong performance Tuesday was deceiving since it was due mainly to improvements in a very small number of stocks.